Burning Bright (Ivy Granger) (14 page)

“What is it now, padre?” I asked.  “I’m kinda in a hurry.”

I didn’t have time for any more problems.  In fact, I was
already sorting my mental to-do list and it was giving me a headache.   I’d
need to retrieve the artifact from Arachne soon, but first I had to find Kaye.

He rubbed a hand down his rumpled pants, fidgeting with his
white clerical collar with the other.

“There is still the matter of how the fire imps entered the
city,” he said.  “I know that dealing with the ones that are here now is the
priority.”  He raised his hands as if to hold back an argument.  “But we must
consider the possibility that we are dealing with a gate.”

“A gate?” I asked.

“A portal to Hell,” he said.  “It is likely the portal links
to one of the outer rings, if the type of demons that we’re seeing are any
indication.”

“Wait, you’re saying there could be an open gate to Hell,
here, in Harborsmouth?” I asked.

“As I said, it is a possibility,” he said, head bobbing. 
“And if you encounter one, you must promise to contact me immediately.  You
will need my help to hold back the demons and close the gate.”

Mab’s bloody freaking bones, Hell gates?  As if the day
wasn’t bad enough.

“What other demons reside in this ring of Hell?” Ceff asked.

Good question.  Fire imps were a nuisance, but one that we
had more than a snowball’s chance in Hell of defeating.  But a horde of badass
demons?  Not so much.

Father Michael paced excitedly in front of his bookshelves until
he found the book he was looking for.  With a flourish, he set a heavy,
leather-bound tome on the desk and opened it to an illustration that would give
Hieronymus Bosch nightmares.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I said.

I swallowed hard, rooted to the spot.  Most of the demons in
the illustration were tiny imps, yeah sure, but the master demons who
apparently ruled over them all were huge.  Like brick shithouse huge.  If those
dudes—and yes they were male, the illustration made that painfully clear—ended
up in Harborsmouth, we could kiss the city and its human inhabitants goodbye.

“If those demons come through the portal, if such a portal
exists, then we are all well and truly FUBARed,” Ceff said.

I snorted, but it came out more like the cry of a strangled
cat.  Normally I’d celebrate the fact that Ceff had used modern slang
correctly—and he was correct, we’d be well and truly fucked up beyond all
recognition—but I was too busy trying not to piss my pants.

I
promised to
contact Father Michael if we encountered anything that resembled a portal to
Hell—not that I was sure what one would look like.  The priest had tossed a few
books onto the desk, but the illustrations for Hell gates weren’t exactly
helpful.  Apparently, these portals could be anything from a shimmering rift in
the air, like a tear in the fabric of reality, to an ornate hand mirror.  Since
I couldn’t go confiscating every damn mirror in the city, I focused on what I
did know.

I knew where I wanted to direct the horde of fire imps, and more
or less how to go about it.  Now I just needed to find Kaye and get this faerie
bargain off my back.  Yes, I was simplifying.  Yes, I was deflecting from the
very real possibility of huge, nasty demons entering the city.  But I had to
focus on the things I had some control over, like getting rid of the faerie
bargain before it drained me dry, or I’d be nuttier than a rabid squirrel.

Plus, let’s face it.  We’d all be better off with the
witch’s magic on our side.  If some badass demons did come gunning for us, we’d
need more firepower than a priest, a teen witch, a kelpie, and a half-breed
faerie princess.  It was like a bad joke, one the demons would be laughing at
for centuries while they cracked the whip over their new city full of slaves.

Of course, finding Kaye was easier said than done.  I still
had no idea where the witch had gone.  With no other leads, I decided to pay a
visit to the Hunters’ Guild.

On my way out of the church, I tried calling the local guild
office, but no one answered and the number Jenna had given me was no longer in
service.  I didn’t even want to contemplate what that meant.  I guess I’d find
out soon enough.

I scrubbed a hand over my face before beginning the descent
down the stone steps leading out of Sacred Heart.  The church was at the very
top of Joysen Hill and I wanted a moment to catch my breath and enjoy the
view.  If I squint my eyes just right, I could pretend that the city below us
was nothing more than party lights floating in a water garden.  Well, except
for the fires raging to the East.

It looked like a trip to the Hunters’ Guild would have to
wait.

“Oh, shit,” I said.  I pointed and Ceff’s face darkened as
he caught sight of the flames.  “That’s near Baker’s Row.  Come on!”

I started to run, but lurched to a stop when Ceff stepped
into my path.

“I will attend to the fires,” he said.  “Confer with the
Hunters’ Guild.  Find Madam Kaye.  I will join you later.”

“But how are you going to fight those fire imps without your
guards?” I asked.

I hadn’t seen any of Ceff’s royal guard since we’d left the
Old Port quarter.  I assumed that they thought he was safe with me, which just
showed how little his people really knew about me.

Ceff whistled and two kelpies slid out of the shadows. 
Damn, his elite guards were ninja stealthy.  The fact that they were in their
massive horse forms made their sudden appearance even more impressive.

“I will not be alone,” he said.  “Aminon and Dilyn will be
at my side and I can call for more of my people once I am within earshot of the
harbor.  Once the fire is contained, and the inhabitants of the buildings to
safety, I will return to you and leave the remainder of the fire fighting in
the capable hands of my elite guard.”

I remembered the
bean-tighe
family we’d visited on
Baker’s Row when working the missing children case.  My chest tightened at the
thought of Myrtha and Glynda and their daughter Flynis trapped by the flames. 
I hoped that they were able to take to their brooms and flee, but not all of
the inhabitants of Baker’s Row had the gift of flight.  Those vamp owned
buildings were deathtraps.

“Okay, go, but take this,” I said, reaching into my jacket
pocket.

I pulled out a burner cell that Jinx had given me in case of
emergencies.  I had a nasty habit of losing my cell, or otherwise causing it to
become a useless chunk of metal and plastic.  Plus, as Jinx had pointed out,
you never know when you’ll need to make a call your enemies can’t trace.

Having a quick, mundane way to keep in touch with Ceff was
also useful.

Ceff gave the phone a nasty look, but slid it into a
pocket.  He may not like the technology, but at least it wouldn’t give him iron
poisoning.  Cell phones contain copper, gold, and platinum, but no fae
crippling iron—I’d checked.  Thank Mab for Google.

“And don’t forget the nixie who lives in the fountain on
Merrion Square,” I said, thinking fast.  Kelpies weren’t the only fae who could
control water.  “Maybe she can help.”

“Beautiful
and
smart,” he said.  “I really am the
luckiest man on land or sea.”

I blushed, but flashed him a cocky grin.

“They don’t pay me for my looks, horse man,” I said.

“Ah, but they should,” he said.  Then he blinked and shot me
a grin of his own.  “Did you just call me a stud?”

I snorted and waved him away.  As much as I hated to admit
it, we didn’t have time for flirting.  When did we ever?  There were always
cases to solve, cities to save—you know, the usual.

I let a little heat into my gaze and made a mental promise
to make it up to Ceff when all of this was over.  When the city was safe and my
debts were cleared, we’d take a long weekend—just the two of us.  I owed it to
Ceff.

I’d been a pain in the ass to be around lately, what with my
obsession to find my father and my not-so-graceful entrance into fae society. 
I’d been especially hard on those closest to me.  It was time I treated those I
cared about like the precious gems that they were.  I just wish it didn’t take
the threat of losing them all for me to realize that.

“Go on, I’ll catch up with you later,” I said.

Ceff’s eyes glowed green in response to the rising heat
between us.

“I will hold you to that promise,” he said.

The guards snorted and stamped their feet, probably giving
Ceff the kelpie equivalent of a chest bump.  I rolled my eyes and waved them
off.  I thought about making some witty comment like “you boys have fun playing
with water,” but just the thought of Ceff manipulating his element sent a
shiver of anticipation along my spine.  I knew from experience that water fae
could do a heck of a lot more with water than just put out fires.  Hell, Ceff
could set my skin aflame—literally.

I shook my head, trying to dispel naked images of Ceff.  I
was not going to stand here on the church steps while thinking about hot kelpie
sex—that sounded like a surefire way to get struck by lightning.  I gave my
brain a mental cold shower, focusing on the fires raging below and the need to
rescue Jinx and myself from the glaistig’s clutches.

I grabbed hold of my anger and let it grow, the beating of
my heart loud in my ears, nearly drowning out the sound of horse hooves as the
kelpies raced toward the fire.  I turned in the other direction, heading west
toward the Hunters’ Guild’s local base of operations.  I would find Kaye, retrieve
the artifact from Arachne, reconnoiter with Ceff—and then we’d kick some demon
ass.

T
he Hunters here
in Harborsmouth have used the old Herne building as their guildhall for nearly
a decade.  The former private school is ideal for their purposes.  The school
campus was easily defendable and had all of the buildings that the militant
guild needed for its operations.

I knew from experience that the gymnasium and courtyard were
used for weapon and hand-to-hand combat training.  According to Jenna, the
Hunters lived in the dormitory and the numerous classrooms were also still in
use, although I’m sure the former headmaster would roll over in his grave if he
discovered that the new teachers were instructing their students on such
subjects as military tactics, vampire politics, fae anatomy, and demonology.

But then again, who knows.  The place had been named the
Herne School, and a figure similar to the pagan Green Man peered from above the
door lintel, its head displaying an impressive rack of antlers.  It was
possible that the figure represented Herne the Hunter.  Maybe the former
headmaster had been fae.

At least I could see the reason why the Guild was attracted
to the place.

“Come on, come on,” I muttered, waiting for someone to
answer the doorbell.

I shivered, pulling my jacket up around my neck and stomping
my feet against the chill in the air.  I stood beneath the horned face that
sprouted vines from every orifice.  Thank Mab the thing was inanimate stone. 
Humphrey was hard enough to get used to.  I couldn’t imagine chatting with a
gargoyle that looked like it was puking a garden out through its eyeballs.

Booted footsteps drew near and I took a deep breath. 
Okay,
calm down Ivy
.  Now would not be a good time to start glowing.  Hunters
might technically be the good guys, but they fought against rogue paranormals
and had a tendency to strike first and ask questions later.

Of course, being run through with a sword and turned into a
wisp kebab wasn’t my only worry.  There was a very real possibility that the
guards would turn me away at the door.  In the past, I’d only come to the
guildhall for appointed training sessions with Jenna.  Without the young Hunter
here to meet me, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get inside.

Chains slid, metal bolts were thrown, and the door swung open
on well oiled hinges.  I blinked at a belt buckle the size of my fist and
tilted my head back to see a behemoth of a man towering over me.  Hunters only
allow humans to join their ranks, with the notable exception of the occasional
witch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy had some ogre blood somewhere in
his family tree.  Not only was he well over six feet tall, the guy’s muscles
had muscles, and strapped over those rippling masses were a staggering number
of weapons.

“Um, I’m here to see Master Janus,” I said.

I tried to flash the guard my best smile, which seemed to
backfire when his hands tightened on the handle of an axe.  Oh well, so much
for polite.  It wasn’t really my style anyway.

“You got an appointment?” he asked.

“No, I don’t, but I’m not leaving until I speak with him,” I
said.  “Tell him Kaye’s friend, Ivy Granger, is here to see him and it’s
urgent—as in I need to talk to him yesterday.”

Muscles grunted and, with one hand still gripping the
massive axe, picked up a phone that was bolted to the wall just inside the
door.  He angled his body away and kept his voice low, but my fae heightened
hearing allowed me to make out the gist of what he was saying.  Muscles was
checking in with Janus’ office and verifying my story.

He narrowed his eyes and shot a glance at me from beneath
dark, bushy brows and I tried not to fidget.  I kept my hands loose at my sides
and away from any obvious weapons.  Of course, I had my throwing knives literally
up my sleeves, strapped to my forearms beneath my leather jacket, but he didn’t
necessarily know that.  Not unless he’d seen me spar with Jenna.

His eye twitched and I got the impression that whatever the
person was saying on the other end of the line had surprised the guy.  Maybe
they were going to let me in after all.